The main purpose of this inventory is to serve as a reference to help stakeholders working in the pharmaceutical sector easily access and use already available SIAPS resources, including tools, experiences, and results. The document is also intended to serve as a technical legacy for SIAPS to support knowledge exchange and sustainability of related work. The inventory is organized around the key program technical intervention areas as defined previously by the program. The document captures all key tools/approaches used by SIAPS (whether produced by SIAPS, a predecessor program, or a partner); selected country experiences in the form of technical reports or relevant materials; and other materials such as presentations, publications, technical briefs, and success stories that capture some of the results achieved by SIAPS.

The Systems for Improving Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program Mozambique has been working with DFH and partners in the pharmaceutical sector and in priority health programs to assist pharmaceutical services in improving the availability of pharmaceutical products and appropriate use at the service delivery points with the aim of achieving desired health outcomes. SIAPS technically assists hospitals to create DTCs to improve medicine use, as well as the collection and analysis of medicine use information for decision-making as part of its support to its counterparts in the pharmaceutical sector.

In August 2013, SIAPS supported the DFH to conduct a two-day DTC orientation workshop. This orientation covered the DTC’s main functions, roles, and responsibilities, as well as how to monitor and identify medicine use problems, and to implement interventions and strategies, including use of standard treatment guidelines (STGs) and essential medicine list, to improve medicine use. During the workshop, the participants presented the status of their hospital DTC, and reviewed Mozambique’s current official DTC’s terms of reference (TOR) and made recommendations for additions and modifications. In addition, with SIAPS technical guidance, the participants conducted a brief study on prescribing indicators in a clinic in Maputo. The study found that more than 60% of patient encounters received an antibiotic. This orientation was attended by 49 health professionals, including physicians, pharmacists, dentists, laboratory technicians, and hospital administrators from the 11 hospital DTCs, the Ministry of Health (MOH), and nongovernmental organizations that support clinical services and supply chain operation.

The WHO estimates that more than 50% of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately, and that 50% of all patients fail to take them correctly. The overuse, underuse or misuse of medicines—also known as irrational use of medicines—results in wastage of scarce resources, increased risk of adverse drug reactions, and widespread health hazards, […]

This document provides a background and basic guidance to medicine use data collection to be undertaken by University of Namibia School of Pharmacy second-year students during their placement in rural health facilities.

In 2012, UNAM-SoP introduced 4-week placements at health facilities located in rural communities for pharmacy students as part of their practical training. This placement is meant to provide the students with hands-on experience on the provision of pharmaceutical services at these facilities. From the lessons learned from the students’ 2012 placement experience, UNAM, from 2013, included data collection on pharmaceutical-related indicators aimed at building students’ capacity to assess pharmaceutical service delivery at health facilities, to interact with other members of the health care team and patients, and obtain insights into the pharmaceutical management procedures. Through this exercise, students learn how to assess dispensing practices, including assessing client knowledge and satisfaction with information received about their medicines. These indicators are based on the global pharmaceutical management indicators developed by the World Health Organization (WHO)

A new manual published by the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program aims to guide health care professionals in the development and implementation of standard treatment guidelines (STGs). STGs are designed to assist health care professionals in making decisions about appropriate, effective patient care. However, health managers often have trouble […]

STGs are designed to assist health care professionals in making decisions about appropriate, effective patient care. However, health managers often have trouble setting and meeting the high standards required of modern, developed health care systems. With stakeholders expressing concern over issues such as strength of evidence, transparency, conflicts of interest, and effective implementation, it is clear that many health care professionals need further guidance in developing and making use of STGs.

This manual guides health professionals through the process of establishing and implementing STGs, placing special emphasis on the low- and middle-income country (LMIC) context. By including tools, templates, and success stories as well as hyperlinks to useful resources, the manual helps health practitioners understand not only important concepts of treatment guidelines, but also how they can best be used in practice.

SIAPS and its predecessor projects—Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS) and Rational Pharmaceutical Management (RPM) Plus—have worked extensively to introduce and support tools that capture dispensing and supply chain data from public health facilities. SIAPS supports the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) to conduct periodic analyses of antiretroviral therapy (ART) data by using available data sources, specifically the Electronic Dispensing Tool (EDT) and national database. In order for such data to inform programmatic decisions, it needs to be actively disseminated to program managers. The Division of Pharmaceutical Services (Div: PhSs), with technical assistance from SIAPS and the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS), compiles a quarterly ART Logistics Management Information System (LMIS) feedback report, a quarterly Pharmaceutical Management Information System (PMIS) feedback report, and an annual supportive supervision visit (SSV) feedback report. Hard and soft copies of the ART LMIS and PMIS reports are disseminated quarterly to all regions of Namibia, and SSVs reports are disseminated annually.

To improve dissemination and stimulate discussions of results, SIAPS supported Div: PhSs to conduct the National Pharmacists’ Forum 2014. Findings from PMIS feedback reports and recommendations made by SSVs were discussed with participants of the forum, which took place from September 29 to October 3, 2014, in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. Participants included pharmacists and stakeholders from 13 of Namibia’s 14 regions. The forum also provided opportunities to disseminate, discuss, and analyze other pharmaceutical services information in reports, such as the standard treatment guidelines (STGs) post-assessment report, and to introduce new medicines added to the Namibia Essential Medicines List (Nemlist).

Enhancing patient recordkeeping in Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, located in the Gauteng Province, is the fifth-largest municipality in South Africa and home to over 2.9 million residents as well as the capital, Pretoria. The municipality operates 24 primary health care facilities providing access to health services, primarily to the uninsured […]

A year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its first global report on antimicrobial resistance, revealing a number of troubling trends: rising rates of resistance to first-line antibiotics for common infections such as urinary tract infections, gonorrhoea, and staph infections; a growing inability to treat deadly diseases like tuberculosis (TB) with second-line and even […]